Ron Jaworski has been ousted from the Monday Night Football booth by ESPN. As pointed out by Yahoo! Sports' Chris Chase, Jaws would fit in perfectly at a certain SBN blog...

When Jaworski appears on other ESPN shows, he's an insightful football mind who breaks down X's and O's with clarity. His "NFL Matchup" program is the best on television for real football analysis. There was none of that on "Monday Night Football." Jaworski stuck to talking points, spoke in cliches and offered little, if any, breakdown of what was happening on the field. [...] He became a carnival barker, not a football analyst. That may have been his own doing or based on the suggestions of ESPN producers.

It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win. Winning on the road in power conference play is hardly ever a cakewalk, but the Longhorns still managed a double-digit victory after going into halftime down five. That's a significant positive to me.

Neither team shot particularly well. Texas hit just 38.5% of its shots, while Oklahoma managed to drain 41.4%. Both teams hit just 5 three-pointers, kept the rebounding margin close (31-27 in favor of Texas), and weren't completely careless with the ball (11 Texas turnovers to 13 for Oklahoma). The difference maker was free throws. Texas scored 17 second half points on free throws (and 24 total), while the Sooners were just 5 of 8.

No, it wasn't an A+ game. But it's a deposit in the bank to 10 conference wins, and that's good enough. Like Jay-Z says, it's on to the next one.

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After one live viewing of Travis High School's superb Harrison twins, I convinced my friend to come to a repeat showing, this time against district foe Hightower. It wasn't a hard sell. My friend, a Houston Cougars graduate but Texas Longhorns fan, was interested in seeing Hightower's Danuel House (a Cougar signee). You may remember House's name from a past BC post written by Trips Right (if not, here's the link to jog your memory).

We ventured out to Missouri City and Hopson Field House, part of a new athletics facility fed by a powerhouse athletics program: Hightower's football team fell to Southlake Carroll in this year's 5A Division 1 state championship. Presumably, Hopson will also host games for the recently opened Ridge Point High School, a 4A school fed by Sienna Plantation, a preferred neighborhood for rich Houston athletes. So yeah, athletics is pretty good round them parts.

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Per Hookem247 ($), 2013 shooting guard Keith Frazier (Dallas Kimball) took an unofficial visit to Texas this past weekend. That's huge news for the Longhorns, who have been barely keeping pace in Frazier's recruitment. Frazier, Julius Randle (Plano PCA), and Matt Jones (DeSoto, committed to Duke) are the "Big 3" Dallas area five-star prospects in the class of 2013. According to Gerry Hamilton, Frazier was intrigued by J'Covan Brown's role in the offense, although I personally see him more in a Sheldon McClellan role.

Another name to keep an eye on in the class of 2013 is Jordan Bell, a forward from Long Beach Poly. Bell is a mid-tier four star prospect that was reportedly recently offered by the Longhorns. Alex Kline is also reporting that Texas may be interested in sharpshooter Jon Severe, a little-known 2013 shooting guard from Christ the King in Brooklyn. Rick Barnes may not be going to Canada anymore, but he's truly recruiting coast to coast.

Regarding Cameron Ridley, the 2012 center from Fort Bend Bush that remains committed to but has not signed with the Longhorns, there have been conflicting reports. Inside Texas' Blake Monroe reported that there has been a "breakthrough" with Ridley's recruitment, clearing his path to sign with Texas in April, while Hookem247's Gerry Hamilton says there's been no change from previous reports. Guess we'll find out in April.

It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves, it was the age of offensive efficiency, it was the age of offensive futility, it was the spring of hoping for a top 5 Big 12 seed, it was the winter of despairing about an NIT bid -- in short, the second period was so far unlike the first period that I wouldn't have blamed you for harnessing your inner Madame Defarge and thrown your remote through your television screen in disgust, obliviously unaware to how the second half unfolded.

It was a tale of two halves for the Longhorns, the first illustriously bad to ugly, the second almost nothing but good. At the 8:56 minute of the first half, J'Covan Brown hit a jumper to put Texas up 21-19. The Longhorns wouldn't make another field goal for the rest of the first half, and went into the locker room down 40-27. At that point, Kansas State's win probability was 80%, and Longhorn fans everywhere probably felt it was a heck of a lot higher than that.

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Most of the Shabazz Muhammad news that's fit to print in recent weeks has been pro-UCLA. First, a Scout.com report ($) indicated that Muhammad, along with fellow Kentucky target Tony Parker, was leaning towards the Bruins. Then, a FOX Sports West story quoted Muhammad as saying:

"Losing is a bad thing to do, but UCLA is a good program. I like Ben Howland and Coach (Phil) Mathews but they're still there and I'm still looking at them really hard."

Even with all the rumors swirling, Kentucky head coach John Calipari isn't giving up. Coach Cal swung by Las Vegas recently to watch Muhammad (who plays for Bishop Gorman), along with Anthony Bennett (who plays for nearby Findlay Prep). After Calipari's visit, Nation of Blue's Garrett Tucker caught up with Muhammad's father, Ron Holmes, to ask about the rumors. Holmes refuted the notion that Muhammad has already decided to sign with UCLA.

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The 2012 McDonald's All-American rosters were announced today on ESPNU. Texas Longhorns commit Cameron Ridley from Fort Bend Bush was honored as one of the players, and Ridley will suit up for the West team. The game will be played March 28 in Chicago.

It's important to note that Ridley has not signed a Letter of Intent with the Longhorns, and is free to commit to and sign with another team by next fall. Currently though, Ridley remains a future Horn. Texas has recruited a McDonald's All-American player in three consecutive years: Myck Kabongo (2011), Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph (2010), and Avery Bradley (2009).

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The 2012 McDonald's All-American rosters were announced today on ESPNU. Two of Kentucky's signees, shooting guard Archie Goodwin (Sylvan Hills, AR) and small forward Alex Poythress (Clarksville, TN), made the team. Poythress will represent the East squad in the game, which will be played on March 28 in Chicago, while Goodwin will play for the West. Both were also previously announced as participants in the Jordan Brand Classic, another prestigious high school All-Star game.

The McDonald's All-American game is the longest running and most well-known of the All-Star games, and Kentucky has been well represented in recent years. Last year, all four of Kentucky's current freshmen--Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, and Kyle Wiltjer--played in the game.

Kentucky isn't done recruiting 2012 kids, and could still add another McDonald's All-American or two to its recruiting class. In fact, head coach John Calipari is currently recruiting all five McDonald's players that are currently undecided. Amile Jefferson and Tony Parker, teammates with Poythress on the East team, are two names on Kentucky's radar. From the West, Shabazz Muhammad and Anthony Bennett are the two prospects that have been most closely linked with Kentucky. West player Devonta Pollard has also expressed interest in taking an official visit to Kentucky in the near future.

Jefferson has expressed interest in committing shortly, with Duke and NC State rumored to be the two finalists, but the remaining four players likely will remain uncommitted when the game is played. Aside from Jefferson, none of the four seniors have completed taking their official visits. Muhammad took his official to Lexington for Big Blue Madness, while Parker, Bennett, and Pollard all remain candidates for a visit this spring.

One notable name that is missing is Nerlens Noel, who recently reclassified to the 2012 class and took over the #1 overall spot on many 2012 recruiting Top 100 boards. The selection committee for the McDonald's All-American game has notoriously disallowed any fifth-year high school seniors from participating. Noel, who would have been a fifth-year senior next year, is technically now considered a fourth-year senior. However, his reclassification apparently did not take place in time for his inclusion in the game.

For a complete list of game participants, check out the McDonald's All-American game's official website.

EGADS. TEXAS CAN WIN A CLOSE GAME AFTER ALL. PRAISE THE GODS FOR CLOSE VICTORIES AND DAENERYS TARGARYEN.

It was a game that Texas probably should have won by double-digits but could have lost in heartbreaking fashion. Repeatedly letting the short-handed Aggies back into the game--and then winning by just 2--may have been the best thing for the hard luck Longhorns. Texas showed moxie, poise, clutchitude, Brown balls, et cetera and so forth, your favorite qualitative colloquialism here. The Longhorns are now an outstanding 1-7 in games decided by six points or less. That's #WINNING.

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College football's National Signing Day has wound down, but there's one last late night reveal that pertains to...basketball? Yes, basketball. ESPNU's Dave Telep broke the news that Nerlens Noel, a consensus top 5 prospect in the class of 2013, has decided to reclassify to the class of 2012.

Noel, from The Tilton School in Connecticut, had been rumored to reclassify for some time. In various interviews at various times, Noel has both enabled and shot down the rumor. Noel, who was originally part of the 2012 class, now officially says he plans to graduate this spring and enroll in his college of choice this fall.

That's huge news, as Noel is one of the premier defensive big men in the country. In fact--and it may be blasphemy around these parts--he could be an even better interior defender than Kentucky's Anthony Davis. Noel will shoot to the top of the 2012 recruiting rankings, and ESPNU has already ascended him to #1 overall, ahead of Shabazz Muhammad. In essence, Noel replaces Andre Drummond, who had been atop the 2012 board before reclassifying and heading to UConn.

The Huskies are also noteworthy when it comes to Noel's recruitment. As one of the programs local to Noel (a Massachusetts native), Connecticut is a prime contender for Noel's commitment. He's already unofficially visited UConn and Providence, and will tour Syracuse on February 11. Noel isn't keeping his recruitment strictly local, though. He told ESPNU that he also plans to visit Kentucky, Florida, Georgetown and North Carolina.

Kentucky has been heavily involved in Noel's recruitment. John Calipari was so impressed by Noel's defensive prowess that Cal extended his first class of 2013 offer to Noel. Pragmatically though, Noel's decision to reclassify is more bad news than good when it comes to Kentucky's recruitment of the big fella.

First, Kentucky is limited by its current commitments, as three scholarships are already taken by signees Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin, and Willie Cauley. While Cauley, who would man the center position, likely wouldn't scare Noel off, it's still worth noting that Kentucky has already "filled" its center spot. Further, Calipari may prefer to allocate its remaining scholarships and recruiting time to targets the Cats have been doggedly pursuing--most notably, Muhammad and Anthony Bennett. Finally, Noel may simply have more of a comfort level with the schools that are closest to him and have pursued him the longest. The less time Calipari has to recruit Noel, the less likely a positive outcome. Think Drummond or Jarnell Stokes.

Still, I expect Kentucky will factor heavily in Noel's recruitment. And if there's one thing Big Blue Nation has learned when it comes to recruiting: never count out Coach Cal.

Follow my Twitter feed (@JC_Hoops) for the latest updates and keep an eye out for the next 2012 big board update.

That was painful.

Like, Kendrick Perkins painful.

Writing this, I sympathize with Scipio Tex and the past two football seasons. It's hard to write the same refrain over and over again with fading hope that things will change.

If you watched the game, you know what happened. And if you didn't watch it, you're not jumping on the basketball bandwagon now, anyway.

Here we go.

THE GOOD

J'Covan Brown...Again - Well, J'Covan was his usual plus on the box score. Like at Baylor, Brown shook off a slow start and ignited in the second half. Unlike at Baylor, Brown wasn't able to get it going from distance, hitting just 1 of 7. Likewise, 7-18 from the field and 5-8 from the charity stripe are below Brown's averages. Overall, Brown probably grades out at a B/B-, and maybe lower if he's placed on the J'Covan curve. Unfortunately, Texas desperately needed Brown's A game. And without it, the Horns fell one point short.

Julien Lewis: Beyond the Box Score - I, along with other Texas basketball followers, have much maligned Lewis for his shoddy offensive numbers. I tried to follow Lewis some in-game, and he does so many other little things well. He's the best perimeter defender, a sneaky rebounder, and a consistent hustler. Two comparators that come to mind are Kentucky's Gerald Fitch and Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, underrated role players that were sometimes chastised due to average offensive stats. As for this game, Lewis didn't attempt a single trey, and it showed. He efficiently hit double digit points (12) in 9 shots, only the second time all season he's accomplished that feat.

Rebounding, For Once - After seeing Baylor's +13 rebounding margin, Barnes probably lit into his team for not hitting the boards. Missouri is a small team, and Texas capitalized on the rare height advantage. The Longhorns outrebounded Missouri 35 to 23 overall, with 15 offensive boards. Jonathan Holmes led the way with 9 rebounds, while Clint Chapman and Jaylen Bond had 7 each. Alexis Wangmene? Umm, well, one. Here's a sobering fact: Texas has not had a player rack up double-digits in rebounds since the first game of Big 12 play, when Chapman pulled down 14 boards against Iowa State. Meanwhile, Kansas' Thomas Robinson already has 5 double-doubles in 8 conference games.

Michael Dixon - Dixon had 21 points on 9-10 shooting, including the game-winner. On a normal night, harassing Marcus Denmon and Kim English into 14 points on 6-20 shooting would translate into a win. But wouldn't you know it: Texas managed to pull out defeat from the jaws of victory. Dixon was an equal opportunity abuser, and even siccing Lewis on him wasn't enough.

Frank Haith's Coaching Against Rick Barnes - It wasn't just the surprise zone defense to end the game. Haith just seems to know how to needle his ex-boss into enough uncomfortable sets, both offensively and defensively. A pleasant by-product of the SEC's annexation of Missouri is Barnes won't have to deal with Haith in conference play. I'd still like to see the two play in non-conference, as the Tigers have been one of my favorite teams to watch in recent years.

Uchi Houston - I missed most of the first half audio watching the game on a bar television, thanks to an impromptu dinner at this Austin transplant. Between the arrival of Torchy's and Uchi, Houston is starting to keep it weird. And I dig it.

THE BAD/THE UGLY

Zero/Zero - Let's start with that first half, when the Texas box score consisted of zero assists and zero 3-pointers made. It was a stat so obvious that even Brent Musburger realized it. Oh, and 22 first-half points is a mark of offensive futility that even Greg Davis would be proud of.

As an aside, was it just my bad ears, or did Bobby and Mussy think that Julien Lewis' last name was Allen?

Myck Kabongo's Intentional Foul - There are times when Kabongo's play makes you, the fan, want to pull out all your hair. Like a drive-stopping fumble, a lackadaisical turnover is a real momentum killer. With 8 to play and Texas down two, the Longhorns look poised to take the lead and ride the home crowd to a victory. Instead, Kabongo passed on a wide-open 3, then got his pocket picked by the stealthy Phil Pressey. To make matters worse, Kabongo then grabbed Pressey's shorts--in front of the official, no less--to compound the problem by getting called for an intentional foul. At that point, I thought Texas was toast. Missouri ran the lead to 10 by the U-4 timeout, and yet, ever the tease, the Longhorns stormed back.

Michael Dixon's Flagrant Foul - With the Tigers up 3 with a minute to play, Dixon returned the boneheaded favor by elbowing Lewis in the face, giving up the ball plus two shots to Texas. And when Brown hit that bank shot to take the lead, I thought: "FINALLY!" And yet, ever the tease, the Longhorns gave it up at the end.

The Last Offensive Set - In the Baylor GBU, I had contemplated chastising Barnes for not using a timeout when Texas was down 73-68. The offense looked dysfunctional, and with 2 TO's in his pocket, I thought it was ridiculous that Barnes wasn't willing to spend one to set up a good offensive play. Then Chapman bailed out Texas by getting fouled after pulling down the offensive board, and Barnes spent a timeout to draw up a brilliant inbounds trap. So I let it go. Fool me two times though: shame on you. Barnes absolutely needed to call a timeout against Missouri.

(1) Down 1, with a full 27 seconds left, Texas had plenty of time to extend the game in case of a miss. Even if Missouri grabs the rebound and hits both free throws, the Tigers are still up by just 3. You can still tie the game.

(2) Given that Texas had just faced a zone defense against Baylor, when the team looked out of sorts, Barnes should have immediately known something was wrong. Call the timeout and set up your scenarios. Extend the dang game.

(3) After Brown launched his missed game-tying 3 way too early against Baylor, don't think Barnes didn't give his star player an earful. You better believe Brown had that in his head when he sent a pass all the way across the court, knowing he'd likely never get that ball back. And yes, J'Covan is the only one that can create his own shot on this team. So if you weren't happy with Barnes' usual late game offensive strategy--stand around and watch Brown shoot--at least you got something different this time.

(4) Kabongo was so flustered on his drive that he didn't notice a wide-open Lewis calling for the ball. Instead, he drove into the teeth of the defense and threw up a prayer. After Kabongo's miss, Lewis just missed on the offensive rebound, also missing his opportunity to foul the rebounder and thus ending the game. In related news, I'm pretty sure Barnes' Risk strategy doesn't involve any type of scenario planning other than putting his entire army in the Ukraine.

Postgame Barnes - So apparently, Barnes told reporters that (1) the refs missed the foul call and (2) he had called both a man play and a zone play in the huddle. So we're blaming refs and blaming players now? Ok, then.

Not Good Enough - Agreed.

LOOKING FORWARD

Texas draws Texas Tech at home on Saturday, and the Red Raiders are one of the worst teams in the nation. @A&M, vs. KSU, @OU and @OSU follow. While that's not the Murderer's Row stretch Texas just faced, those are all losable games. Well, at least you can entertain yourself with National Signing Day via Recruitocosm.

This Texas team must no doubt feel like they are living in their own personal Groundhog Day. It was another game that Texas should have lost, but could have won. Baylor carried a 9 point lead into halftime, and it was a lead that fluctuated between 5 to 10 points for most of the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. I admit to getting distracted, as I didn't think the Horns had the horses to mount a credible comeback.

But down 8 at the U-12 timeout, Texas went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 54, then closed the margin again at 66. Both ties were courtesy of J'Covan Brown, who hit two 3-pointers as part of his manly 32-point effort. A third comeback was not to be, as Brown's final 3 attempt to tie the game went long, clanged off the side of the rim, and went through a surprised Sheldon McClellan's hands and out of bounds. Futility, thy name is Texas end-game offensive sets.

For those fans that are nothing but despair and grief, take heed. Despite the mediocre 13-8 record, Texas is ranked #20 overall by Ken Pomeroy, #30 by Jeff Sagarin, and...well...#63 by RPI. But still, those first two are awesome!

Seriously, Texas is a good, if young and repeatedly defeated, team. The Longhorns still have a shot at the NCAAs, with a very manageable back 9 schedule. Pomeroy actually predicts that Texas will go on a 9-game win streak before falling in the season finale at Kansas. That said, at this point, Texas still has no signature win. On Saturday, Iowa State beat Kansas in Ames, and Oklahoma knocked off Kansas St. on the road. That was on the heels of Oklahoma State's home win against Missouri on Wednesday. It's a good year in the Big 12, and victories won't come easy unless you're playing Texas Tech.

For the Longhorns, it's put up or shut up time. The advanced metrics say Texas is good, but as Will Muschamp was fond of saying that one time, "stats are for losers." A win at home against Missouri on Big Monday is a need to have for this Texas team.

But back to assessing Baylor.

THE GOOD

J'Covan Brown - I'm not sure how many more times I'll have to say this, but I'll say it again. J'Covan is a J'Player. Period. People writing off this season are missing one of the great Longhorns of our time. Dude is such a joy to watch on the court, it's hard to put into words. Brown shook off his 3-game slump in a big way. After a slow start, Brown ended up pouring in 32 points on 11-22 shooting with 5 assists to boot. To put those 22 shots into perspective, the other 4 players in the starting lineup had 22 shots--combined. It's not selfishness on Brown's part. He's (best Chris Traeger voice) litrally the best offensive option for Texas on any given possession. It's not just his scoring that keeps Texas going, either. He's incredible at reading and breaking down defenses, threading passes through traffic, and running into or away from out-of-position defenders.

Myck Kabongo's 2nd Half - It's a real shame that Kabongo was saddled with early foul trouble, because he played a fantastic 2nd half and looked prime and ready to abuse Pierre Jackson and AJ Walton. Kabongo had only one turnover, a questionable but (in my opinion) correct charging call that also doubled as his fourth foul. Other than that, Kabongo had 12 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 huge second-half 3-point buckets released with a buttery smooth stroke. Obviously, the 4-8 FT shooting hurt, particularly the last missed FT that would have brought Texas to within 1 instead of 2.

Texas' Passing - Say what you want about Rick Barnes' offensive coaching, but he sure knows how to push Scott Drew's buttons. The Longhorn passing attack was in full force on Saturday. Rotation passes, skip passes, elbow passes, entry passes, penetration passes...everything was in the arsenal for the Texas guards. Except for guys making the shots at the receiving end of the pass.

Julien Lewis' Floater - Lewis scored 4 of his 6 total points on two nifty in-lane floaters that probably reminded Texas fans of the Augustin/Abrams years. Other than that, Lewis was an offensive zero, but my, those floaters were nice. More, please.

Perry Jones III's Talent - There are times where Perry Jones just looks like God's gift to basketball, and he flashed multiple instances against Texas. He's got a smooth 12-foot jumper, an array of post moves, and a length that easily led to a game-high 14 rebounds. He flat out abused Clint Chapman, a guy 3 years older and 10 pounds heavier than him. Sometimes, you just shake your head watching Jones and say, "wow."

The rest of Baylor's frontcourt - Even after all that praise about Jones, I still favor Quincy Acy as my favorite Bear. When he first started at Baylor, Acy was an athlete of the highest order--the Bear version of Dion Dowell. Acy could jump out of a building and throw down thunderous dunks, but that was about it. Four years later, and Acy is a basketball player. He's got a sweet-looking jumper and amazing body control that he uses to spin and finger-roll in the lane or send defenders flying on a strong box-out rebound. Meanwhile, freshman Quincy Miller is a scoring machine and just raw enough at the other parts of his game that he may come back for a second year. Combined, these guys are a matchup nightmare, and seeing Texas start with Chapman on Jones and Lewis on Miller was flat-out comical. Backup Anthony Jones hardly played, and he would start at the 4 for Texas.

THE BAD

Foul Trouble - Overall, I thought the officials were pretty atrocious both ways. They over-called some ticky-tack fouls, and then let some blatant body contact go. I did think the Acy screen on Kabongo was legit, and that's on Wangmene for not calling it out. From the Texas perspective, Chapman and Kabongo did their team no favors by picking up two early fouls on plays they really could have let go. Chapman's was on the interior in help D, while Kabongo's were 25 feet from the basket. Both players' infraction woes continued in the second half, and Holmes' early contributions were stunted by 5 fouls of his own. Texas doesn't have the depth to play a war of attrition, particularly against a Baylor squad that goes 10 deep without a steep drop-off in the second string.

Texas Frontcourt Defense - Yes, the Jones-Acy-Miller triumvirate is ridiculously talented, but Texas did itself no favors in "defending" them. Baylor forwards were repeatedly left unguarded on the perimeter, despite proving time and again all of them can hit the open jumper. As I previously mentioned, Perry Jones was too quick for the slower Chapman, and Miller too tall for Texas' preferred 3 guard sets. At all three positions, the Bears ate up defenders on the interior and on the glass. The Texas frontcourt combined for 13 rebounds total; Perry Jones had 14 rebounds by himself.

Baylor's Backcourt - On the flipside, Baylor's guards did little to impress. Pierre Jackson racks up assists because everyone on his flank can score, but he just doesn't look like a true distributor on the court and was frazzled into five turnovers. Brady Heslip is a catch and shoot player, and when he goes 1-5 from distance, he's a liability, not an asset. AJ Walton hasn't improved one iota in three years. At the beginning of the year, I posited that if Scott Drew could coax some production out of his guards, Baylor is a potential Final Four team. Well, the Bear guards will have to play better than they did Saturday to make it there.

Perry Jones' demeanor - Jones' draft stock has been falling this year, and the common complaints are that he's too passive and doesn't dominate games like he should. And even when putting together a dominant performance against Texas, his facial expression never changed once during the game. Seriously, Jones makes Jim Caldwell look like a ball of excitement. Let's just say I would be less than shocked if I found out Jones didn't love playing basketball.

THE UGLY

First Half Shooting - At the U-12 timeout, Texas led 17-16 and looked like they were firmly in the thick of things. 12 minutes later, the Longhorns added just 12 more points and went into the half with just 29. Shooting woes were the culprit. Texas shot 1-12 from long distance in the first half, and consistently missed open shots without getting offensive rebounds. The only make wasn't even by a Texas guard; it was by Jonathan Holmes. Brown and Kabongo redeemed the overall numbers by hitting 6 treys in the 2nd half, but Lewis ended up 0-6 and McClellan 0-3.

Sheldon McClellan - Speaking of McClellan, he was flat out awful. He scored just 2 points (on free throws) and hardly involved himself in the offense. He wasn't any better on defense, and his most egregious error was allowing Brady Heslip (!) to blow by him and get an And-1 bucket. The foul was Holmes' third and pretty much knocked Holmes out of his rhythm for the rest of the game. Barnes was so infuriated with McClellan that he yanked him out of the game and sat him for most of the second half.

Baylor's Neon Out - Someone in Baylor AD's marketing department needs to be reprimanded because those neon greenish shirts were a crime against humanity, teen rave parties, the color green, and anyone watching that game on television.

LOOKING FORWARD

Texas needs a win. Big Monday, the Knighterator, Mizzou. Get 'er done.

There's a lot of concern and consternation about Texas basketball these days, partly due to recruiting unrest. The argument comes down to:

Rick Barnes should stop recruiting 5* mercenaries that just leave after one year! I don't get any emotional attachment to them, and they're not winning!

-OR-

Rick Barnes should keep recruiting 5* talents, just make sure they stay for more than one year! I want to get emotionally attached and also win!

-AND/OR-

Rick Barnes isn't recruiting nearly enough 5* kids! We clearly need more stars! And why can't he follow the Texas football philosophy? Get all the best players from Texas high schools!

On the third point, I was intrigued. I broke down Texas high school basketballers by class, in an effort to show why Texas high school has suddenly become exceptionally important. I've listed high schoolers ranked in the top 25 in their class (generally the cut-off point for 5*). The '13-'14 rankings are via Scout (led by Evan Daniels, it's my favorite scouting service, even if its platform sucks). Rankings from '12 and below are RSCI aggregated rankings.

2014

#7 Emmanuel Mudiay (Arlington Grace Prep...Kabongo’s cousin)
#9 Justin Jackson (Houston HCYA)
#15 Justise Winslow (Houston St. John's...dad played for Phi Slamma Jamma)

2013

#3 Julius Randle (Plano Prestonwood Christian...Blake B calls him the most important UT recruit since KD and I agree)
#4 Andrew Harrison (Fort Bend Travis)
#6 Aaron Harrison (Fort Bend Travis)
#10 Keith Frazier (Dallas Kimball)
#19 Jordan Mickey (Arlington Grace Prep)
#20 Matt Jones (DeSoto / Duke)

2012

#5 Isaiah Austin (Arlington Grace Prep / Baylor)
#9 Marcus Smart (Flower Mound Marcus / OK St)
#11 Cameron Ridley (Fort Bend Bush / "Texas")
#17 Rasheed Sulaimon (Houston Strake Jesuit / Duke)
#26 Danuel House (Missouri City Hightower / Houston)

The aggregated amount of talent coming from Texas high school basketball over the next three years is on par with Saturday Night Live's early '90s cast. Over the next three years, there are 14 total prospects in the top 25 (and I know I'm cheating a bit since House is right outside at 26). If you scroll down the list, you'll notice that is equal to the sum of 2005 to 2011 combined.

I'll give you three reasons why Texas fans should be concerned going forward, and it's three shades of blue. Duke, North Carolina, and Kentucky. These "blue blood" programs have recently taken a vested interest in the great state of Texas. Coach K's last Texas pull was Daniel Ewing in '01 (TJ Ford's HS teammate), yet he now has commitments from Sulaimon in '12 and Jones in '13, and also possibly leads in Randle's recruitment.

The Tar Heels were on John Henson ('09) early, but have traditionally stayed out of Texas. Now, they're also on the heels of Randle, and have interest in Frazier ('13) and Jackson ('14) as well. And while Kentucky hasn't landed a Texas prospect for as long as I can remember, they should be considered favorites for the Harrison twins ('13), and recently Grace Prep teammates Mickey ('13) and Mudiay ('14) gave glowing reviews about Calipari's player-friendly system.

In Scipio's thread, I commented that Durant's commitment was a game-changer when it came to recruiting. Historically, Barnes' approach to roster-filling hasn't changed. ATJ (after TJ Ford, when Texas basketball really got established), Barnes has looked within state borders for his role players (Connor Atchley > AJ Abrams > Dexter Pittman > J'Covan Brown > This year's freshmen).

I'd argue that it's the star approach that has changed. Prior to Durant, the Longhorns' big-timers were Texas-bred. After Durant, Texas went (inter)national, getting Jordan Hamilton from California and tapping into the Canadian/Findlay Prep timeline. That's not counting misses like DeAndre Daniels (California) or Devin Ebanks (Connecticut).

During that time period ('07-'11), there wasn't much to crow about in Texas. But in 2012, it appears that Texas high school basketball is approaching a paradigm shift to top tier talent. And that has many questioning whether Barnes still has the ability to pull alpha dog status within state borders.

Whether he does or not is a future state issue, but now let's look into the past.

2011

#8 LeBryan Nash (Dallas Lincoln / OK St)

Horns: The last of the Canadians? Texas headlined the class with Myck Kabongo (Findlay Prep via Canada) and complemented him with a trio of Texans: Sheldon McClellan (Houston Bellaire), Julien Lewis (Galveston La Marque), and Jonathan Holmes (San Antonio Antonian). Nash was offered, but Texas really wanted DeAndre Daniels from California, who decommitted from the Horns and eventually chose UConn. After Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph left, Texas picked up two players released from their LOIs: Jaylen Bond (PA / Pitt) and Sterling Gibbs (NJ / Maryland).

State: Nash has disappointed so far, but he's opened the door for a Stillwater re-emergence along with the football program. Head coach Travis Ford will add another 5* recruit, Marcus Smart, in 2012. From a depth perspective, three of the six recruits ranked in the 25-100 range picked Texas. D'Angelo Harrison (Sugar Land Dulles / St. John's) looks like he'll become a potent college scorer.

2010

#8 Perry Jones (Duncanville / Baylor)
#20 Tony Mitchell (Dallas Pinkston / Missouri – Did not qualify; North Texas)

Horns: This was the Tristan Thompson/Cory Joseph class (Findlay Prep via Canada). Joseph was a late replacement for Avery Bradley, who unexpectedly declared for the NBA Draft.

State: McDonald's All-American Jones jumped aboard the Scott Drew Recruiting Express train that has kept chugging with Quincy Miller ('11) and Isaiah Austin ('12). Mitchell was always a grade risk. The Horns pretty much avoided Texas like the plague this year, with Phil Pressey (Dallas Episcopal) the most notable non-5* recruit; he followed his brother to Missouri.

2009

#5 John Henson (Round Rock / UNC)

Horns: Texas had little shot at Henson, who committed in his junior year. The Horns did get Jordan Hamilton (CA), Bradley (Findlay Prep via WA) and Shawn Williams (Duncanville) in the fall and effectively closed recruiting. Bradley was Texas' first Findlay Prep commit; Hamilton likely envisioned himself following in the footsteps of Durant. If I recall correctly, Texas was also hot after Tommy Mason-Griffin (Houston Madison / Oklahoma), which would have been a far worse alternative to Bradley.

State: Most of the in-state talent like Ray Penn (Fort Bend Bush / OK St) fizzled, but this was the class that torpedoed Oklahoma. Mason-Griffin, along with Keith Gallon (VA), earned ex-HC Jeff Capel his walking papers. Capel migrated as an assistant to Duke...where he's now ardently recruiting...the state of Texas. Great.

2008

#13 Willie Warren (Ft. Worth North Crowley / Oklahoma)
#25 J’Mison Morgan (Dallas South Oak Cliff / UCLA)

Horns: Texas got J'Covan Brown (Port Arthur McAllen) in the fall, then went into panic mode when it became clear he wouldn't qualify. I remember Devin Ebanks (CT / West Virginia) and Wes Witherspoon (GA / Memphis) being targeted, but the Horns were lucky to come away with anyone. That turned out to be Varez Ward (AL), since transferred to Auburn.

State: It was basically a lost year for Longhorn in-state recruiting. Baylor ended up with a decent haul, getting Anthony Jones (Houston Yates), Quincy Acy (Mesquite Horn), and eventually J'Mison Morgan (who transferred from UCLA). Say what you want about Scott Drew, but he's done a good job of unearthing talent from Texas high schools to basically overtake Texas A&M's position within the conference.

2007

#14 Anthony Randolph (Dallas Woodrow Wilson / LSU)
#15 DeAndre Jordan (Houston Christian Life / Texas A&M)
#25 Gary Johnson (Houston Aldine / Texas)

Horns: Barnes must have watched extensive Sydmill Harris footage this year, because Rick ended up with international fever, plucking Doge Balbay and Alexis Wangmene. Clint Chapman (OR) was also in this class, and the trio's development (or lack thereof) is one of the major reasons for current fan frustration. Don't forget eventual Horn Jai Lucas (Houston Bellaire), who transferred from Florida and fit right into a disappointing class. Johnson turned out to be the bright spot, overcoming a heart condition to have a solid career in Austin.

State: Randolph and Jordan have both made millions in the NBA based on size and potential without actual positive productivity. '07 was one of the few years that Barnes didn't recruit his role players in-state, and in retrospect, it was a correct decision. It just so happened his out-of-staters didn't pan out.

2006

#11 Darrell Arthur (Dallas South Oak Cliff / Kansas)
#15 Damion James (Nacogdoches / Texas)

Horns: I'm still amazed that Texas was able to land Kevin Durant (MD), the class' first commit and class pied piper. I don't know that DJ Augustin (Louisiana native, but due to Hurricane Katrina played ball at Fort Bend Hightower) or Damion James (Oklahoma commit who chose Texas after the Sampson scandal) play at Texas if Durant wasn't in this class. Harrison Smith (Houston Jones) was the only miss, as Dexter Pittman (Rosenberg Terry) and Justin Mason (Amarillo Palo Duro) had productive, if also frustrating, careers in Austin.

State: It was actually a really good year in Texas. This was Billy Gillispie's last signed class at Texas A&M, and he landed Donald Sloan (Seagoville), Derrick Roland (Seagoville) and Bryan Davis (Grand Prairie). It was also a good year for big men, with Hasheem Thabeet (Cypress Community / UConn) and Josh Lomers (Boerne / Baylor) representing the class. Arizona head coach Lute Olson, long a fixture in Texas, pulled his last good Lone Star commit in Nic Wise (Kingwood).

2005

#12 CJ Miles (Dallas Skyline / Texas…then NBA)
#16 Gerald Green (Houston Gulf Shores / NBA)
#20 Byron Eaton (Dallas Lincoln / OK St)

Horns: This was the last class where high schoolers could jump directly to the NBA, and Texas got burned by Miles. AJ Abrams (Round Rock McNeil) was identified early, but Barnes made a major mistake by going the quick-fix JuCo route with JD Lewis (Amarillo / Midland CC) and Craig Winder (MD / Cecil CC).

State: Miles and Green haven't exactly lit the NBA world on fire. It's a shame that Texas didn't further pursue Eaton, a great college player. Eaton also went to the same HS as Nash ('11), which might have contributed to Nash's decision.

2004

#12 LaMarcus Aldridge (Seagoville / Texas)
#17 Jawann McClellan (Houston Milby / Arizona…Sheldon’s cousin)
#19 Daniel Gibson (Houston Jones / Texas)

Horns: Barnes reaped the benefits of the TJ Ford era with this stellar class. He also landed Mike Williams (AL), Dion Dowell (Texas City), and Connor Atchley (Houston Clear Lake) in a class that was supposed to win a National Championship. The best they did was the Elite 8, while a lesser heralded class--Florida's--ended up cutting down the nets twice.

State: The Longhorns basically cleaned up in-state this year, though enemy of the 40 Acres Joseph Jones (Normangee / Texas A&M) was a less heralded recruit in the class.

2003

#4 Ndudi Ebi (Houston Westbury Christian / NBA)
#5 Kendrick Perkins (Beaumont Ozen / NBA)

Horns: Texas missed on Ebi (Arizona), Perkins (Memphis), and Cartier Martin (Houston Nimitz / K-State), but stumbled into PJ Tucker (NC) and picked up transfer Kenny Taylor (Sugar Land Willowridge) as a Baylor transfer from the Dave Bliss fallout. Does one year from Edgar Moreno (Lon Morris CC) merit a mention?

State: The NBA Draft stuck its grubby paws into Texas' top tier again. But LeBron James (OH) blew both Texans away...and then some.

2002

#5 Chris Bosh (Dallas Lincoln / GA Tech)
#12 Bracey Wright (The Colony / Indiana)
#15 Daniel Horton (Cedar Hill / Michigan)
#22 Brad Buckman (Austin Westlake / Texas)
#25 Bryan Hopkins (Dallas Lincoln / SMU)

Horns: Texas targeted local product Buckman, its second consecutive McDonald's All-American recruit after Ford. Californian Kenton Paulino turned out to be an underrated pickup.

State: This was the state's deepest class in the '00s. Amazingly, the two best college Texans weren't as heralded in high school as the list above: Deron Williams (The Colony / Illinois) and Ike Diogu (Garland / Arizona St).

2001

#17 TJ Ford (Sugar Land Willowridge / Texas)

Horns: The originator.

State: It was another stacked class. Ford's Willowridge program featured Ewing (Duke) and Taylor (Baylor), but this class had Keith Langford (Ft. Worth North Crowley / Kansas), Jason Maxiell (Carollton Smith / Cincinnati), and Lawrence Roberts (Houston Lamar / Baylor). The best of them all--but also the lowest rated--turned out to be Emeka Okafor (Houston Bellaire), who won a championship with UConn and was drafted #2 overall.

Texas is currently halfway through its brutal 6 game stretch. In my "Murderer's Row" preview, I posited that 3-3 was an attainable goal. Well, so much for that optimism. Three games in, and the young Horns have notched three losses. Well, a 3-3 split is still in arm's reach. It's just a really, really, Mr. Fantastic-like long arm.

vs. Iowa State (Tue Jan 24, 8:00p, LHN)

Texas fans who hate continued dominance from the Bill Snyder Junior College Family Tree may end up despising the Cyclones. Desperate for a program that mattered, Iowa State hired an alum with no previous coaching experience in Fred Hoiberg, who saw his easiest path to success paved with transfers. Enter a quartet of flameouts: Royce White (Minnesota), Chris Allen (Michigan State), Chris Babb (Penn State) and Anthony Booker (Southern Illinois). Oh, you may have heard of them, all right. In Iowa State's win over Texas, they combined for 55 of ISU's 77 points.

The Cyclones currently sport a 4-2 conference record and are 14-5 overall. Thing is, they're just not that good. ISU has no notable non-conference wins, and their victory against Texas is the only noteworthy win. But can the Cyclones come into Austin and beat the Horns? Abso-friggin'-lutely.

Sophomore Royce White leads the team in practically every per minute category (13.3 PPG, 9.3 RPB, 4.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 3.7 TPG). Against Texas, he got to the line 17 times and luckily sank only 8 of those. White's a matchup nightmare for Texas but the Horns' big men should be flying high after limiting KU's Thomas Robinson on Saturday. Fellow bigs Melvin Ejim and Anthony Booker look like JAGs, but so do Texas' big men most times.

Chris Allen is a scoring-inclined point guard that can't really shoot. It also helps that he's not a good passer. I'm fairly certain that Michigan St. is happier with their Keith Appling-Travis Trice PG duo. Allen won't hesitate to shoot the 3, and neither will his backcourt mates Scott Christopherson, Royce Babb, and Tyrus McGee. They've combined to knock down 38.5% on 392 3-pt attempts. As a team against Texas, Iowa St. hit 10 of 21.

To win, Texas needs to harass White and, ideally, get him in a little bit of foul trouble. On the perimeter, the Horns need to do a better job of identifying shooters and not letting them hoist open jumpers. In Big 12 play, Texas has allowed opponents to shoot 41.0% from beyond the arc, and if they let Iowa State make shot after downtown shot, it could be a long night.

Personally, I think Texas comes ready to play and notches a comfortable victory. Given that the game is on LHN, I'll have to settle for following on the Twitter while watching reruns of Chopped.

@ Baylor (Sat Jan 28, 12:00p, CBS)

The Baylor Bears are Texas' biggest matchup nightmare in the conference. The Bears are looooong in the frontcourt, have one of the most athletic small forwards in the nation, and possess specialist skills on the perimeter. They also lack any kind of notable experience and are (barely) coached by Scott Drew.

After starting the season 17-0, Baylor has dropped its last two. They were dominated on the road by Kansas and then at home against Missouri. Their undefeated start had a lot of national media throwing around terms like "Elite" and "#1 seed." At the time, I cautioned that KU and Mizzou may knock them down a peg or two. Now I'm not always right and usually mostly wrong, but I'd like to pat my back for that one. Baylor's still on par with Missouri talent-wise, with the Tigers skewing backcourt while the Bears are frontcourt heavy. But Missouri has the experience and Kansas has the coaching, and Baylor may find itself in third place by the time Big 12 play concludes.

They're still a matchup nightmare for Texas, though. Sophomore Perry Jones and freshman Quincy Miller are the two highest rated draft prospects in the Big 12. They can score (13.7 PPG / 12.9 PPG) and defend, but sometimes look uncomfortable coexisting together. Wing Quincy Acy has no such problem. He can play on any team in the country and on my team any day. He's a high-flyer and explosive finisher. If any of them are struggling or in foul trouble, Baylor can go to its ridiculously deep bench. Senior Anthony Jones would probably start for some lesser high major teams, and Cory Jefferson is a sophomore who could explode (a la Acy last year) when Jones and Miller leave.

Frankly, I'm not quite sure how the Texas bigs can keep up with these horses, but they'll have to try. Fairly or not, the Bears have been labeled as "soft", and, in contrast to their Elite 8 team two years ago, don't have a true center like Josh Lomers or defensive paint terror like Ekpe Udoh. I guess the "punch 'em in the mouth" philosophy applies. Clint Chapman and Jaylen Bond will have to be aggressive offensively, and Jonathan Holmes needs to be fresh off of chasing around ISU's White and do the same on Acy.

Their backcourt has a bunch of nice pieces but no star. The Bears continue to stubbornly start AJ Walton, despite his inability to shoot (68 FGA) or stop turning over the ball (33.4% TO Rate). Like the rest of the country, I prefer Pierre Jackson, who actually plays more minutes than Walton overall (68 to 51% of min played). Jackson can shoot (49.3% 3-Pt%) and dish (40.3% ARate). He's a first-year JuCo transfer, and as he gains game experience, he'll get better and better. Brady Heslip is one of the best long distance gunners in the country (47.0% 3-Pt%) and looks even more annoying than Aaron Bruce. Freshman Deuce Bello is the only one with true 2-guard length, but he's more athlete than basketball player at this point in his career.

The defense is susceptible, and the Tigers shredded it to the point where Drew temporarily abandoned his base 1-3-1 zone for a terribly run man-to-man D. The key is to avoid Baylor's interior length and attack from the wings. Good games from Julien Lewis and Sheldon McClellan would be ideal, and Myck Kabongo and J'Covan Brown need to identify and attack the soft spots in the zone. Texas is also a good offensive rebounding team, and should be able to sneak by Baylor's big men to crash the glass (see the punch 'em in the mouth philosophy). A high scoring game is probably Texas' best bet, but I don't foresee a win in Waco.

vs. Missouri (Mon Jan 30, 8:00p, ESPN)

I already covered Missouri's personnel for their first matchup (see here).

In the first matchup, Missouri's shooters basically blitzkrieged Texas early, and even J'Covan's big night couldn't bring the Longhorns within striking distance. Missouri is going to make its fair share of shots; the key is to try and limit their offensive efficiency as much as possible.

I'm hopeful that Clint Chapman will bring his A game against Ricardo Ratliffe, and to do so, Chapman will have to avoid the quick fouls that took him out of rhythm in Columbia. Texas should also look to be the aggressor in the paint, and some hard-nosed play from Jaylen Bond may be just what the doctor ordered. I thought his 9 minutes were too little last game, as he's got the ideal size to knock Ratliffe out of his comfort zone.

Against Missouri's four guard lineup, Rick Barnes chose to start off playing zone. His rationale was that he didn't want his freshmen chasing around Kim English. Instead, Texas just let Marcus Denmon burn them instead. Yes, the Tigers have a multitude of weapons. But so do the Longhorns (they're just way less experienced and efficient!), and they need to use them. Missouri has no answer on the wing for the bigger Jonathan Holmes (10 points, 7 rebounds last game), and Myck Kabongo has a significant height and gallop advantage over the small Phil Pressey. If Texas can avoid falling into an early hole, the home crowd noise and team confidence should build, hopefully culminating in a win. And hey, maybe J'Covan j'goes for 30+ again.

Not pulling out a victory against Kansas St. or Kansas hurts, but the Longhorns still have a shot at a couple of wins heading into a much easier second half conference schedule. Let's hook those W's, Rick.

Coffee is for closers and Kansas regular season basketball. There's a reason why the Fightin' Bill Selfs (Selves?) have won 7 straight regular season Big 12 championships, and it's not because they're gunning for a set of steak knives.

Texas came ohsoclose to a victory. At various points in the ballgame, Texas was down by the following scores: 22-7, 40-27, 46-34, 52-43. Almost miraculously, the Horns battled back multiple times and found themselves up 64-60 with 3:24 left, then 66-65 with 1:53 left. You know how it turned out.

Being in a position to win is nice, but if Texas doesn't start winning some games, its postseason has "NIT" written all over it. For reference, here are some other Saturday outcomes: unranked Notre Dame beat #1 Syracuse, unranked Florida St. beat #4 Duke (at Cameron Indoor, no less), unranked Tennessee beat #11 UConn, and unranked Arkansas beat #19 Michigan. So it can be done!

THE GOOD

Sheldon McClellan's First Half - When Texas went down 22-7, it looked like all hope was lost until Texas' freshman small forward stepped up in a big way. He started the rally with the following sequence: notching a dime on a Clint Chapman dunk, grabbing a defensive rebound, then burying a 3 to cut the lead to 10. That was the first of three treys that McClellan hit; the third cut KU's lead to 5. Somewhat surprisingly, McClellan didn't have a single shot attempt in the second half, and scored just two points on free throws. He is the Longhorns' second best offensive weapon, and why he wasn't more utilized would likely take a repeat viewing that I don't have the stomach to do.

Good Clint Chapman - PB at BON loves to talk about a good Chapman performance being followed up by a bad one, and Clint was nothing but the former against Kansas. His stat line read 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, and a huge perfect night from the charity stripe (7 for 7). Chapman didn't back down from the taller Jeff Withey, and if Texas had won, Chappy likely gets the game ball. It's also worth noting that Texas bought very good minutes from its freshmen bigs, Jaylen Bond and Jonathan Holmes. They combined for 10 points (5-9 shooting) and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes, mostly matched up against Player of the Year candidate Thomas Robinson.

J'Covan Brown's Juevos Grandes - Brown notched 20 of Texas' 39 second half points, including two dagger 3's late in the 2nd half that brought Texas to within 1 and up 4. After both 3's, Self jumped a mile in the air to call timeout and stem the momentum. Brown's FG% wasn't pretty, but 24 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals is a man's game. He came just short of a game-tying 3, knocked down all his free throws, and showed an inherent understanding of the game that most players never achieve. The biggest example how J'Covan drew two cheap fouls 25 feet from the basket after recognizing that Withey was over-committing on his hedges.

Defending Thomas Robinson - He had a quiet night by Robinson standards and still finished with 17 and 9. Rick Barnes did a really nice job rotating 3 different bodies on Robinson (Alexis Wangmene along with Holmes and Bond) and never letting Robinson get truly comfortable in the paint. If Texas was better at protecting the defensive glass, that stat line would have been even more mitigated (T-Rob had 6 gimme points on 5 offensive boards). I don't expect Robinson to be that quiet in Lawrence, so Texas will have to do a better job of shutting down...

...Tyshawn Taylor - If you've followed me since the March to March days, you'd know I'm not the world's biggest Tyshawn Taylor fan. But I grudgingly admit that he's putting together one heck of a season, and he was the best player on the court on Saturday. His 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists stat line didn't quite match up to Brown's, but Taylor was a model of efficiency. He hit 54% from the field, 50% from 3, and--most importantly--didn't turn the ball over once. I give. This year, he's an asset, not a liability.

Texas' Recruiting Weekend - The football team wasn't the only Texas faction making recruiting noise this past weekend. Texas basketball hosted two 5* recruits--2012 small forward Devonta Pollard and 2013 power forward Julius Randle. At the very least, the team gave both players a heck of a game to watch, and the crowd was mostly rocking (by Erwin Center standards, anyway). The opportunity must look appealing as well. For Pollard, he'd immediately become a top scoring option, rotating at the 3/4 with McClellan and Holmes (and hopefully with Brown and Kabongo getting him the rock). Randle would fit in any program, but he should be encouraged at seeing Chapman's development, Holmes'/Bond's potential, and Barnes' stubborn insistence that big men be involved with handling the ball.

THE BAD

Julien Lewis' Offensive Numbers - Lewis drained an open 3 on his first shot, a positive sign. He then proceeded to miss his other 5 shots and ended up with a typical Lewis stat-line: 1-6 FG%, 1-3 3-Pt%. He plays nice defense and definitely hustles (5 rebounds), but he's an offensive black hole of inefficiency. At this point, Barnes' continued insistence to give Lewis a starting role and majority minutes is conduct detrimental to the team.

The One-Man J'Covan Show - Both early on and late in game, Texas' offensive sets looked eerily similar to the second half travesty in last year's NCAA tournament loss to Arizona. It's an offensive philosophy that basically equates to: stand around and let J'Covan do his thing. When Kabongo is struggling, Texas has no other option to create offensively, and smart coaches like Self know it. And as much as I love to see J'Covan bullrush a crowd of three opposing jerseys and hoist the rock up, those circus shots rim out more often than they go in.

Jayhawk Life After T-Rob and Taylor - Beyond its two All-Big 12 players, Kansas doesn't look all that scary. Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford are nice defenders, but neither screams offensive threat. Jeff Withey looks about as good as Clint Chapman. the Jayhawks' best freshman, Ben McLemore, is academically ineligible this year, and the second best, Naadir Thorpe, doesn't play because his numbers have been flat-out terrible. I know, I know: Kansas doesn't rebuild, it reloads. But the precipitous fall I've been banging my drum about may actually come into fruition next year. Yes, next year, Kansas will fall all the way to...second place in the Big 12! You read it here first.

THE UGLY

Myck Kabongo - Texas' enigmatic point guard followed up stellar performances against Missouri and Kansas State by laying an absolute egg at home against Kansas. Now it's important to note that Kabongo wasn't going up against Phil Pressey or Angel Rodriguez, two sub-6' underclassmen that struggled to keep up with Kabongo's length and foot speed on the perimeter. Far from it: Kansas' three-headed hydra (Taylor, Releford, Johnson) is the best defensive backcourt in the Big 12. They harassed Kabongo and Brown all day long, giving them zero room to catch a pass, let alone penetrate or shoot cleanly. That said, Kabongo simply didn't come ready to play. Barnes sat him for most of the last 10 min in the first half (when Texas went on its McClellan-fueled run) and the first 10 in the second (when Texas fell back into a double-digit deficit). It wasn't by accident or due to foul trouble. Barnes channeled one of his trademarked "Teaching Lessons by Sitting your Tail on the Bench". And while Kabongo came back to hit one big 3, it was truly a futile afternoon for the freshman point. He finished with 3 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound, 3 turnovers, and 5 fouls. Ouch.

12-7 (2-4) - That's Texas' overall and conference play records. They're in a four-way tie for 6th place in the Big 12, along with world-beaters Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., and Texas A&M. Fellow Southie Texas Tech brings up the rear at 0-6, and I'm pretty sure the Horns can beat the Billy Gillispie-led Red Raiders in the home-and-home. Other than that, there are no more gimmes for the Longhorns.

LOOKING FORWARD

If Texas wants to find itself on the right side of the Tournament bubble, 10 conference wins is the goal. With 2 wins in its pocket and 12 games remaining, the Longhorns need to go 8-4 the rest of the way.

Texas hosts Iowa State tomorrow in as close to a must-win game as one can get in January, followed by Baylor on the road and Missouri at home. The Bears are beatable at home (the Bears just lost to Missouri on Saturday), and the Tigers are beatable on the road (they dropped a stinkbomb to Kansas State), but for Texas fans it's going to be "I'll believe it when I see it." Time to show us something, Longhorns; time is running out.

As expected by the Internet, 2013 power forward Derek Willis committed to the University of Kentucky at a press conference from his high school, Bullitt East. Willis is an area product from Mt. Washington, Kentucky. He's a highly regarded prospect in the class of 2013, ranking as a high four star: 33rd overall by Scout, 23rd by Rivals, and 42nd by ESPNU.

Willis committed to Purdue University last spring, but decommitted in August. Since then, he's taken multiple unofficial visits to area schools, including attending the Kentucky vs. Louisville game in Rupp Arena on December 31. Willis had narrowed down his list of finalists to Indiana, Louisville, and Purdue, along with Kentucky.

Almost immediately after Willis' decommitment, many recruitniks speculated that he would end up at Indiana or Louisville, the two schools in which he was showing the most interest. However, when Willis announced he was going commit last Monday, all the signs pointed to Kentucky. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino even said as much. When asked if he was expecting good news, Pitino responded, "not at all."

Continue reading this post »

I won't go full monty with this game as it was a tough loss to swallow. After looking like they'd get run out of the gym early (K-State opened up a 15 point first half lead), the young Horns settled down in a tough road environment. They went into the break down 43-42 and kept the margin within single digits throughout the second half. Texas was down by two, 82-80, on its second to last possession, but never got off a shot after an ill-fated handoff from Myck Kabongo to J'Covan Brown resulted in a K-State steal and slam to seal the game.

There was a lot to be encouraged about, if you're a Texas fan. Myck Kabongo played a nearly flawless first half, though he wore down significantly in the second as Frank Martin kept running athletic guard after athletic guard to tire the freshman. He ended up with 14 points and 10 rebounds assists (good), but also 6 turnovers (bad). First half Kabongo flashed why NBA scouts think of him as a first round pick, and Texas fans still need to hold their collective breath that Myck will return for year two.

J'Covan Brown's 22 points (good) came on 28 shots (bad). It was a mixture of open shots not falling and Brown trying to force the action against a defensively heady Wildcats club. Even when shooting 29% from the field, Brown is such a pure basketball player that it's poetry in motion to watch him play. I believe it was Brown that first recognized that K-State was giving up the backdoor cut, a play Texas ran multiple times with successful passes but (mostly) unsuccessful finishes.

Sheldon McClellan has a really pretty midrange game, and at times he looks like a Jordan Hamilton clone out there. If he isn't the Horns' best offensive threat by his junior season, I'll be really surprised and his non-development or really pleased that Texas landed a blue chipper like Julius Randle. McClellan finished with 19 as the second-leading scorer.

When Clint Chapman stays out of foul trouble, he's been a hoss. Barnes has been experimenting with putting both Chapman and Alexis Wangmene on the floor together, to successful results. Their senior experiences combined help overcome individual limitations, and it's worked against teams like Missouri and Kansas State that don't deploy frontcourts with NBA talent. Whether it'll work against Kansas and Baylor...umm, I'm not counting on it.

On the K-State ledger, Rodney McGruder channeled his inner J'Covan and had the game of his life with 33 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman Thomas Gipson flashed a huge second half (11 and 6), and if that had been Jaylen Bond's stat line instead of Gipson's, Texas gets the W. Will Spradling is one of my favorite Big 12 players because he plays wicked smart. Spradling got 6 quick second half points by simply running away from an exhausted Kabongo.

In the end, the same old, same old came back to bite Texas' keester. The Longhorns don't take care of the ball well enough (16 TO's), they don't squeeze enough defensive boards (16 offensive rebounds by the Wildcats), and they don't identify and close out on distance shooters (K-State shot 7-15 from 3). These are little things that aren't totally talent or experience related. It's just "want to," and I'm seeing a Texas program as a whole (both players and coaches) fall just short of getting the requisite W's.

We can talk about moral victories and player development all we want, but the bottom line is Texas now has 3 losses against surefire tourney teams (UNC, Mizzou, KSU), 2 losses against fellow bubble teams (ISU, NCST), and 1 terrible loss to Oregon State (currently 11th place in the Pac 12). That's against just 1 win to a possible tournament team (Temple). If Texas wants to show the tournament committee that the Horns are deserving of a tournament seed, a huge home upset against Kansas on Saturday would be a nice start. Plus, Texas is hosting 5* prospect Devonta Pollard on an official visit. It'd be nice to send him home with a huge win fresh in his mind.

I attended a high school district tilt in Sugar Land, Texas yesterday--Bush vs. Travis--and did a write-up for Texas Longhorns site Barking Carnival (an SB Nation-owned blog). The game featured Texas commitment Cameron Ridley, but also two Kentucky targets in the class of 2013--Andrew Harrison and his twin brother Aaron Harrison.

The Harrison twins are two of Kentucky's key targets in the 2013 class, and they have continually maintained that kentucky is atop their list of schools. In a recent interview with Cats Pause's Jeff Drummond, their father Aaron Harrison, Sr. talked about the twins' interest in Kentucky.

"During the summertime, they really got to know (UK assistant Kenny) Payne, and after the visit, they felt much more comfortable with Coach Cal. He had been to see them seven or eight times during the summer, so that relationship has gotten a lot stronger.

According to Harrison Sr., Calipari has told the twins that they are his top priority in the backcourt for 2013. "They know that. They feel like he’s being sincere about that."

I was interested to see the twins play in person, and I didn't come away disappointed. The Harrisons combined for 36 points as Travis held on to beat Bush, 60-55.

Let’s get it out of the way right now: the Harrison twins are GOOD. Really good. They had a handful of "did you SEE that?!" plays, including Aaron hitting an NBA Range 3 and assertively rejecting a Ridley putback, and Andrew driving past Ridley to score on a nifty reverse scoop kiss off the glass.

This team is theirs. Both brothers played the entire game, save for the last minute when Aaron fouled out. The Tiger offensive philosophy is pretty much: let the Harrisons make plays. Travis primarily runs the dribble-drive motion offense made famous by Kentucky’s John Calipari, and they also run some high screens with a perimeter shooter. With no post presence, the Tiger offense is predicated on dribble penetration and hitting open shots.

For more of my thoughts on the Harrisons, check out the complete post.

I eschewed the Baylor-Kansas Big Monday game in favor of watching two Fort Bend (District 23-5A) schools go head to head. While Wheeler Fieldhouse in Sugar Land is no Phog, there were plenty of people amped for the matchup. Wait times to get in went upward of 30 minutes as the administration was woefully ill-prepared to handle the crowd, and attendance ended up being standing room only.

Why the hubbub? Well, it was a battle of the two first-place teams, featuring a trio of guys you may have heard of: Cameron Ridley for Bush (a Texas commit) and twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison for Travis (undeclared but considering Kentucky, Maryland, Texas, Villanova, etc.). Travis opened up a double-digit lead for most of the game, but Bush stormed back in the fourth quarter before narrowly losing 60-55. The Sugar Land Sun has the online recap.

BUSH BRONCOS

Let's start with who Texas fans are most interested in: Cameron Ridley. First of all, dude is BIG. He's listed at 6'11", 250 lbs, and it wouldn't surprise me if he tipped the scales beyond that. For reference, Tristan Thompson played center for Texas at 6'8", 225 lbs last year. Travis didn't have a single player over 6'7", and the Tugers compensated by double-teaming Ridley prior to post entry and then triple-teaming him when he got the ball. The strategy worked...sort of. Ridley finished with 13 points and 15 boards but shot 3 of 10 from the line.

Besides being really big, here are additional positives about Ridley. First, he has nice hands--the anti-Alexis Wangmene. Even with pesky Bush defenders surrounding him, he managed to snare some pretty difficult entry passes. He has a nice shooting touch, attempting a midrange jumper early that was slightly long. The free throw percentage sucked, but there was little wrong with his release other than insufficient arc--a regular problem for HS bigs. Also, his conditioning was stellar. Ridley played all forty minutes and rarely seemed winded.

The biggest issue I have with Ridley is that he's just too passive (to be fair, that's another regular problem for HS bigs). Despite the blatant size advantage, he ended the first half with no blocks or dunks. During Bush's second-half comeback, Ridley had 3 of each, all of them drawing a raucous reaction from the crowd. He's not a space rebounder and just doesn't have that Paul Millsap-like passion to get every available board. Aside from a couple of hustle boards, most of his rebounds were of the "I'm just taller than you" variety. On D, he's a step slow against terrorizing penetrators like the Harrisons, often rotating his help D split-seconds too late. Then again, given the perimeter-oriented game by Travis, Bush was forced into playing in a quasi-zone with Ridley often migrating outside the paint.

In the offensive post, he's understandably too quick to pull the trigger. In his highlight reels, Ridley demonstrates an understanding of post moves, but when you're surrounded by three opposing jerseys, it's difficult to make any kind of basketball move. He made a couple of nice kickout passes, but also brought the ball down far too often instead of keeping it chest-level or higher.

Part of the problem was that Aaron Durley (committed to Marquette) got no playing time. Durley played on Bush's JV team last season while recovering from an achilles injury. He dressed and warmed-up but never got in the game; my understanding is that he's sat a big chunk of this season as well. I'm not sure if it's due to injury, academics, attitude, or a combination. It's a shame, as a Ridley + Durley (who looks about an inch shorter than Ridley) twin tower combination would give both a lot more breathing room in the paint.

Bush's other problem is it has no shooters. Their second best player is sophomore wing Kelly Oubre, rated 4* by Rivals. At this point in his career, he's what the 'Cosm boys call an afolete--skinny, lanky, and explosive. Like the rest of the Broncos, Oubre shot terribly from long distance but showed nice basket cutting ability. He's a prospect to watch and should take the primary scoring role on Bush's team next year.

Bush's fourth quarter comeback was spurred by junior point guard ShawnDre Jones, who went Stefani-style bananas after doing little in the first 30 minutes. He drove headstrong into the paint and had a nice midrange floater going--very Doron Lamb/AJ Abrams-esque without the required outside shot to compensate. Unfortunately, he's listed at 5'10" but probably measures below that, so his college choices are extremely limited. He's rated a 2* by Rivals.

TRAVIS TIGERS

Let's get it out of the way right now: the Harrison twins are GOOD. Really good. They had a handful of "did you SEE that?!" plays, including Aaron hitting an NBA Range 3 and assertively rejecting a Ridley putback, and Andrew driving past Ridley to score on a nifty reverse scoop kiss off the glass.

This team is theirs. Both brothers played the entire game, save for the last minute when Aaron fouled out. The Tiger offensive philosophy is pretty much: let the Harrisons make plays. Travis primarily runs the dribble-drive motion offense made famous by Kentucky's John Calipari, and they also run some high screens with a perimeter shooter. With no post presence, the Tiger offense is predicated on dribble penetration and hitting open shots.

Andrew Harrison is by far the better of the two ball-handlers. He can go right or left and can cross or stop on a dime. He's not a natural shooter like his brother Aaron. The mechanics are off and the ball doesn't look genuinely pretty coming off his hands. However, he can still play off the ball since he's so good at cutting and slashing. He's a tall point guard, particularly in high school, and is a plus rebounder and defender. If all breaks right, he could be the next John Wall.

His brother, Aaron Harrison, is the silky scorer. As a ball-handler, Aaron can't go left, though it didn't stop him from trying. However, Aaron has a picture-perfect jumper and the aforementioned NBA range from long distance. He went on a hot streak in the 3rd quarter and took a heat check from what appeared to be 25 feet. Off the ball, he's equally deadly as a slasher and also loves getting out in transition, finishing two or three plays with thunderous slams. He also showed the "want to" to win. At the end of the game, he demanded the ball and knocked down both of his free throws (prior to fouling out).

The knock on the Harrison brothers has been immaturity, wearing their emotions on their sleeve. It's clearly evident in person. When either player didn't get a foul call, they bird-dogged the ensuing defensive possession, leaving their teammates exposed. On one non-call, Aaron did a single axel jump with a "WTF" fistpump. Dead ball body language wasn't much better, and they were also curiously the only two starters not to warm up at halftime with their teammates. It's worth noting that both Harrisons clearly have "win at all costs" mentality. As for whether those attitude concerns will be an issue in college, it remains to be seen, but I doubt the perception goes away in high school.

Aaron finished with 23 points and 6 rebounds, while Andrew had 13 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists. The assist total would have been higher if some of his potential dimes had fallen. When the Harrisons play together in college, I expect their box scores will look rather similar with Aaron the scorer, and Andrew the distributor.

Bush and Travis were tied all the way up to 18 points in the second quarter, and both Harrisons struggled early before settling down and dominating Bush's backcourt. Keeping Travis afloat in the beginning were two senior starters, Christian Crockett and Kyle Coulter.

Coulter hit two big 3's early in the game and was also tasked with the primary responsibility of guarding Ridley. He's listed at 6'6", but picked up the challenge as best he could. Clearly winded after the first quarter, he was an offensive non-factor past that but did his best to keep up with a guy that was practically a head taller and a tire wider. Coulter is also Travis' starting quarterback and was named First Team All-District.

Crockett, a wing, is committed to Mount St. Mary's, and he chipped in with a few buckets of his own. With the Harrisons dominating the on-ball action, it was hard to gauge how talented Crockett is. He had a nice stroke on his jumper and should at the very least become a glue guy contributor on a mid-major team that needs talent infusion.

RECRUITING THOUGHTS

Hookem's Gerry Hamilton has continually maintained that there's no new news regarding Ridley's recruitment. In my opinion, he's a must get prospect. While he's still raw, there's no question he'd start at center from Day 1 and give Texas some much needed size. Fingers crossed, Barkers.

Honestly, the Harrisons look like perfect fits for Kentucky. They run the same offense, and Calipari is a players-friendly coach that also knows how to coax out optimal talent while massaging egos (see: DeMarcus Cousins). I know they have Maryland connections (they're originally from Maryland and their grandfather still lives there), but playing in Mark Turgeon's plodding system would be a gross misuse of resources. They appear to have little interest in playing for Texas, so there's that. The Harrisons have continually expressed Kentucky as their favorite school, and I don't expect that co change.

Durley is big and that counts for something in all levels of hoops. He's a nice project for Marquette, and perfectly illustrates why I'm happy Buzz Williams and his deep-rooted Texas connections wasn't hired by Texas A&M. I wouldn't be surprised if Durley makes an impact for the Golden Eagles.

Oubre is a guy to watch out for. Depending on how much he grows and develops his outside shot, he could possibly peak somewhere between Danuel House and Sheldon McCllelan. Being in the same 2014 class as Texans Emmanuel Mudiay, Justin Jackson, and Justise Winslow, he's bound to get overlooked by recruitniks. This summer, Oubre should move up to U-17 on his AAU team, Houston Hoops (currently led by Rasheed Sulaimon, LJ Rose and J'Mychal Reese), and if he makes noise on the summer circuit, expect him to start appearing on some Top 100 lists.

Quoting Denny Green, the Texas Longhorns basketball team "are who we thought they were." J'Covan is a hoss, inexperience is a huge deal on the road, and size matters. Missouri shot lights out in the first half and Texas went into the locker room down 15, but a huge second half by Brown kept the Horns hanging around. At no point did Texas look like a serious threat to win, but there were encouraging signs of life from the young'uns. An 84-73 loss to a top 3 Big 12 team sucks, but it's acceptable.

THE GOOD

J'Covan Brown "at 70%" - Brown's final stat line: 34 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 6-7 from long distance, 10-16 overall. He's become a complete basketball player, and I like him better than previous Big 12 studly 2 guards Jacob Pullen and LaceDarius Dunn. Brown is a pure scorer, but he shows an understanding of team basketball slightly beyond Pullen's grasp (and far and away beyond Dunn's). That said, Pullen put last year's fragmented K-State team on his back and willed them to an NCAA Tournament bid. We'll see if Brown has that in him. After the game, Brown told AAS reporter Mark Rosner that he played at 70%, and Rick Barnes took affront. Okay, then.

Myck Kabongo's Dribble Penetration - With undersized Phil Pressey guarding him and no shotblocking threat Missouri's defensive interior, Kabongo was pretty much able to penetrate at will and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates. His 4 turnovers were too many, but I'll take 10 assists from my lead guard any day of the week. He hit both of his 3's with a confident, strong stroke. 12/10 is a big plus after his dismal showing against Texas A&M.

Missouri's Senior Leadership - Earlier this season, I talked at length about my perceived paradigm shift in Rick Barnes' recruiting philosophy, and if you were watching Missouri, you'd understand why. The Tigers trotted out a starting lineup with 4 seniors, 3 of whom are potential First Team All-Big 12 candidates. Looking closely, I saw a little glimmer of hope that one day Julien Lewis could become Marcus Denmon, Sheldon McClellan Kim English, and Jaylen Bond Ricardo Ratliffe.

THE BAD

Interior Assertiveness - One of Missouri's exploitable areas going into the game was their lack of interior presence. It's a shame Laurence Bowers tore an ACL prior to the year, because this Tiger team with Bowers likely would have been considered strong favorites to reach the Final 4. Even without Bowers, they're good but not intimidating. The Tiger bigs, Ratliffe and Steve Moore, combined for just 5 rebounds in 42 minutes, and Texas outrebounded Mizzou 29 to 24. But Clint Chapman, who was decent in limited minutes, picked up 2 quick fouls in the first half and never got established. Holmes had a quiet 10/7; he's not an interior threat at this stage, anyway. Bond was a non-factor, and Alexis Wangmene showed his usual size and catch limitations.

Stopping Phil Pressey - Sometimes you tip your cap and shrug your shoulders. If Pressey is draining 3 pointers (shooting 28.6% of the year, but hit 3 of 7), there's nothing much to say. But Kabongo and company repeatedly allowed the lightning quick Pressey to both drive into the paint and create transition buckets, a backbreaker when playing against such a gifted offense. Pressey matched Kabongo's 10 assists but left the turnover column spotless. On the plus side, Pressey's maturation from lost freshman to playmaking sophomore should hearten Texas fans--provided Kabongo sticks around for year 2.

THE UGLY

Opening in a Zone - I understand the arguments for trying to zone Missouri. Don't chase around their scorers (English and Denmon) and give Pressey a cushion to guard against penetration. But Texas doesn't particularly zone well, and giving Marcus Denmon even an inch to shoot is generally a recipe for disaster. With Lewis and McClellan coming off an above average job limiting Texas A&M's Khris Middleton, why not give them a chance to man D? By the U-8 timeout, Mizzou had hit 7 of 8 from long distance and opened up the double-digit cushion it needed for a victory. To wit, PB's post-mortem at BON has a sobering fact below. Texas is a good man-to-man defending team. Play to your strengths.

12:43 to 8:40, First Half: Mizzou 16, Texas 2
9:40 to 8:36, Second Half: Mizzou 7, Texas 0

In these five minutes of game action, Mizzou outscored Texas by a 23-2 margin. The rest of the game, Texas prevailed, 71-61.

McClellan and Lewis Show Their Freshmen Stripes - The two freshmen were nails at home against Texas A&M, but combined for 8 points on 3-18 shooting and 5 turnovers to boot. Someone in my Twitter timeline noted an interesting stat that Lewis has attempted 151 field goals, second on the team. That's particularly noteworthy, as he's hitting only 34.4% on those shots. That's also particularly, umm, not good. Meanwhile, more than a third of McClellan's shots have been 3's (56 out of 140 attemtps), yet he's hitting just 30.4% from 3 as opposed to 53.6% from 2. As freshmen, these guys will have their ups and downs, but Barnes needs to at least teach them how to play efficiently rather than bury the offense.

LOOKING FORWARD

In my previously linked Murderer's Row preview, a couple of comments noted that I was perhaps overlooking Kansas by calling them the Horns' most likely win. Not true--I was just pointing out the stark difference between trying to win at home versus on the road. Just ask Texas' next opponent, Kansas State. At home, the Wildcats spanked Missouri and lost to Baylor by just 2. On the road, the lost to Kansas by 18 and Oklahoma by 9. While the Wildcats aren't nearly as talented as Missouri or Kansas, they're going to be a load to handle in Manhattan. Stealing a win at K-State will require the Horns to do things they didn't do against Missouri--avoid foul trouble, shoot the ball well, limit turnovers.

Oh, they'll have to do those things against Kansas too. It's just that the home environment should be much more conducive to coaxing a victory. It's why I think Texas' home game against Missouri will be much different. While it's possible that J'Covan Brown will go off for 30+, it's not likely. However, Clint Chapman should get more playing time inside, the freshmen guards will shoot better than 16%, Phil Pressey won't likely be that magician-like offensively again, and Missouri won't hit 7 of its first 8 3's...I hope. Of course, the next time the Horns play the Tigers, Texas could be 2-5 in conference play and fighting for its tournament life. So, one game at a time, gents.

Let's talk a little bit about local product Derek Willis. The 2013 power forward is a highly regarded prospect, playing his high school ball for Bullitt East in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. In the class of 2013, he's ranked as a high four star: 33rd overall by Scout, 23rd by Rivals, and 42nd by ESPNU.

Willis committed to Purdue in his sophomore year but decommitted this past August. He quickly opened up his recruitment to three nearby schools--Kentucky, Louisville, and Indiana--while keeping the Boilermakers on his list. After already committing once, it wouldn't have been surprising to see Willis take his time in making another decision. However, after a flurry of unofficial visits this past fall, Willis appears ready to commit.

Multiple sources, including the Courier-Journal, have reported that Willis is set to announce his decision on Friday. Larry Vaught caught up with Willis' father, Delbert Willis, who talked about his son's impending announcement (after the jump).

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As Scipio Tex pointed out in his Texas A&M post-mortem, the Texas Longhorns basketball team faces a brutal six game stretch starting Saturday.

@Mizzou, @KSU, KU, ISU, @Baylor, Mizzou

On the plus side, all of those games (save for ISU) aren't being broadcast on the Longhorn Network. So you can actually see your team play. PROGRESS!

For those unfamiliar, those opponents comprise the top four teams in the conference, ranked as follows by Ken Pomeroy: KU (2), Mizzou (8), Baylor (11), KSU (15). Texas (25) is arguably better than Iowa State (51) but certainly didn't prove it by losing to the Cyclones in Ames.

It's very conceivable that Texas goes 1-5 or 0-6 over the next few weeks. 3-3 is probably the high-water mark, and even 2-4 is acceptable. The Horns' back nine conference schedule isn't nearly as daunting, but at some point Texas will need to beat one of the big boys to prove to the tournament committee that they can be competitive come March.

Let's tackle the first 3 games of that stretch, then pray to the Basketball Gods that a win or two is forthcoming.

@ Missouri (Sat Jan 14, 12:00p, ESPN2)

The Tigers are an offensive-minded stathead's dream. No one in their core rotation has an O-Rtg under 100. Stat-friendly SIer Luke Winn pointed out that the Tigers are one of "only two teams in the nation [that] have three players with Offensive Ratings over 120 and usage rates over 20 percent."

They're the most experienced team in the Big 12 and talented to boot. Leading the charge is top scorer Marcus Denmon, a 17.9 PPG scorer. He's wickedly efficient (137.6 O-Rtg, 64.8% TS%), doesn't turn the ball over, and has nifty hands on defense. Other than that, he stinks. No really: if it wasn't for KU's Thomas Robinson, Denmon would be a runaway for Big 12 POY. Fellow swingman Kim English is an even more efficient shooter (68.7% eFG% is 2nd best in the nation) and a load on the defensive end. He's also exceptionally funny on Twitter.

Both are seniors, along with their primary big man Ricardo Ratliffe. Ratliffe's picked up the slack after fellow big Laurence Bowers tore an ACL prior to the start of the year. Would you believe he's even more efficient than Denmon and English? His eFG% is an unreal 76.8%, which would be far and away in first except he falls just short of Pomeroy's minutes qualification.

Glue guys Michael Dixon, Matt Pressey, and Steve Moore don't take anything away. Matt's brother Phil Pressey (from Dallas Episcopal) has developed into a catalyst in his sophomore year. He's not a natural shooter but is dishing 5.8 APG.

Texas actually matches up pretty well with Missouri. The Tigers look to score efficiently, but aren't big on crashing the boards. Because of size limitations, they can scored against, but look out for carelessness as their guards will pick pockets. Prior to Big 12 play, the Tigers were dominant (average margin of victory of 24.3 pts in undefeated non-con play), but came back to earth with a blowout loss at KSU and a close win at ISU.

Unfortunately for Texas, this game is being played at Columbia. To win, Texas will need to use their size well. Clint Chapman actually gets the benefit of being the tallest player in this game. Along with Wangmene and Jaylen Bond, Chapman will need to control the paint on dribble drives and on the glass. The Horns' guard speed is also important. Brown likely still won't be at 100%, but McCllelan and Lewis were great pestering Texas A&M. The Mizzou guards are a harder challenge, but hopefully Texas is up for some running and gunning.

@ Kansas St. (Wed Jan 18, 8:00p, ESPN2)

The Wildcats have subscribed to the Ewing Theory this year. The departure of their two best players, Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly (combined, 53% of shots taken), has actually made Kansas St. better. They're doing it through team-oriented play and tenacious defense.

Rodney McGruder has stepped up as the alpha dog with 14.3 PPG and 5.1 RPG. Though he's regressed from long distance (31.6% down from 40.8%), he's become a more efficient scorer (47.6% FG%, 56.0% TS%) overall. Jamar Samuels is their second leading scorer (11.1 PPG), and I fancy him as McGruder in small forward form. It'd be nice if Texas could've sicced Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph on them, but we can't, so we won't. Instead, Texas'll just have to contraction them into submission.

Sophomore point guard Will Spradling has made a huge jump as an offensive threat. Unlike Pressey, he's a scorer, not a distributor (11.1 PPG, 2.9 APG) and Kabongo will have to adjust his defensive mentality accordingly. He's also one of my favorite players in college basketball, and not just because he looks like he should be playing Settlers of Catan on Saturday afternoons instead of suiting up in a basketball uni.

There's not much more to really say about the returnees. Center Jordan Henriquez and guards Martavious Irving and Shane Southwell stuck through last year's trying times and have provided quality PT. They're JAGs in the mold of a Justin Mason or Clint Chapman. The Wildcats are also getting minutes from two freshmen: Thomas Gipson, an inefficient volume scorer, and backup point Angel Rodriguez (passer, not scorer, natch).

Kansas St.'s Four Factors profile is scary in that it's almost an exact mirror of Texas'. On offense, the Wildcats don't shoot well and turn the ball over, but they grab extra points by rebounding and getting to the line. It's opposite on D: force terrible shooting and careless ballhandling, but suck at grabbing boards and limiting fouls.

I don't have a great read on K-State against Texas: I guess whichever team avoids bad habits will win. I do think Texas is more talented than Kansas St., but that's a worthless advantage if all the diaper dandies decide to get freshmen yips on the road.

vs. Kansas (Sat Jan 21, 3:00p, CBS)

Would it surprise you to know that Kansas is good again? If not, let me point you to the 7 straight conference titles the Jayhawks have won. Aside from a puzzling loss to Davidson, Kansas has been money. Close losses to Kentucky and Duke, wins against Ohio State (sans Sullinger), Georgetown, and Kansas St. Rock Chalk fans expect another Conference championship, and that's not a stretch.

However, Kansas is simply less talented than prior iterations. Its only surefire NBAer is Thomas Robinson, arguably the National POY at midseason. Robinson is averaging 17.6 PPG and 12.1 RPB against some pretty awesome competition. His defensive rebounding percentage of 32.2% is first in the nation. Dude's beastmode.

Beyond that is dregs, and I honestly have no idea how Bill Self coaxed all this production out of them. Tyshawn Taylor is a fan of both real and virtual fighting without the Machete production to back it up. Oh sure, he's scoring 14.8 PPG, but he's shooting just 43.8% from the field and is a turnover machine.

I like swingman Elijah Johnson as a defender/passer and Travis Releford as a scorer/rebounder, but I'd like them a lot more if they were one player named Elivis Releson. I'm also amazed that Jeff Withey has been effective this year. He's been invisible for three years (redshirted his first year), but has become one of the nation's leading defenders (2.9 BPG, 14.9% blk%). His profile reminds me of Josh Lomers, but Withey is more athletic and an agile defender instead of just a big one.

Connor Teahan is their most potent offensive weapon after Robinson (29-74 from 3pt, 58.2 eFG%) but plays defense about as well as a trash can or Jordan Hamilton in his freshman year. I honestly have no idea why Kevin Young doesn't play more, as he's efficient on both ends of the court (63.5 eFG%, 2.7 Blk%, 3.2 Stl%). When needed, Self will also buy minutes with freshman Naadir Tharpe and sophomore Justin Wesley.

Of all 3 games, I'm most favoring a win against Kansas. Most importantly, the game is at home, a huge factor even in the apathetic Erwin Center. Secondly, I'm just not a fan of Kansas' talent level and think they can be beat. On the other hand, Bill Self is a heckuva coach. Despite their offensive limitations, the Jayhawks have been defensive studs, and that doesn't bode well for a team as offensively-challenged as Texas. Actually, I'm probably underselling KU's defensive wizardly with all the bashing of their offense. For me, the Jayhawks are in a group with Wisconsin, Michigan State and Kentucky amongst the best defenses in the nation.

Oh well, throw all the analysis out the window. I'm calling for the win. We may need it after back-to-back road losses.

Recruiting news never ceases to arise. On the heels of the latest recruiting update, which unveiled 2012 forwards Savon Goodman and Ricardo Gathers as potential targets, comes another new name. Meet Tony Parker, a highly regarded forward from Lithonia, Georgia. Parker, ranked 31st overall by ESPNU, is a true power forward at 6'9", 270 pounds. He's also hotly pursued, with a top 3 suitor list of Duke, UCLA, and Ohio State.

There's conflicting reports about whether Kentucky head coach John Calipari has officially extended an offer or not. A Cats Pause ($) report quotes Parker as receiving a scholarship offer, while a Scout ($) report says no. Whether it's the former or the latter, an interested Parker would certainly be take for the Wildcats, as Kentucky sorely needs size going into next season.

Despite having longstanding relationships with a handful of blue blood schools, it certainly seems like Parker is receptive to the newfound attention from Kentucky. In the Cats Pause report, Parker's dad Virgil was quoted as saying:

"Tony and I, we've had a lot of discussion with the (recruiting) process. He has always said that (recruits) say when they go to a certain school, it reaches out and grabs them and they know they want to be there. He said that hasn't really happened yet."

Parker's addition to Kentucky's recruiting big board isn't the only new recruiting news. Briefly, after the jump:

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William Gunter of Cats Pause/247 Sports recently caught up with 2012 uber-prospect Shabazz Muhammad at the Beach Ball Classic, and unearthed some interesting nuggets of information ($). Muhammad stated that he has officially trimmed his list to six schools: UCLA, UNLV, Kentucky, Duke, Arizona, and Kansas.

Per Muhammad, the first four schools listed (UCLA, UNLV, Kentucky, and Duke) have been the most persistent recruiters. This past fall, Muhammad took official visits to Kentucky (for Big Blue Madness) and Texas A&M (since eliminated). That leaves him with three official visits remaining, and he told Gunter that "I know Duke will get a visit." The Las Vegas native has also been to nearby schools UCLA and UNLV multiple times, and being intimately familiar with their programs, would not need to take an official visit to either school prior to picking one.

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Here's a quick update not meant to detract from the start of conference play. There's been a little action on the recruiting front, most notably the commitment of power forward Jarnell Stokes to Tennessee. With the stellar play of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, it's looking increasingly likely that Kentucky will go into the 2012-13 season with just one experienced frontcourt returnee, power forward Kyle Wiltjer. Kidd-Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, and Terrence Jones are all probable NBA early entrant candidates, and Eloy Vargas and Darius Miller will have expired their eligbility.

Kentucky has just two currently committed frontcourt players for the 2012 class: Willie Cauley, a center, and Alex Poythress, a combo forward. With Stokes now off the Recruiting Big Board, a new name has popped up: former St. John's commit Ricardo Gathers. Gathers recently spoke to Five Star Basketball and expressed interest in teaming up with shooting guard Archie Goodwin, a Kentucky signee.

Along with Gathers, Kentucky is also recruiting a trio of combo forwards. Anthony Bennett, Amile Jefferson, and Devonta Pollard. All three have offers from the Wildcats. Bennett hasn't really yet kicked off the recruiting process but is arguably the most talented of the trio. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jefferson is down to five schools: North Carolina State, Villanova, Ohio State, Kentucky, and Temple. And per Scouts Focus, Pollard plans to visit Kentucky and Texas in the next month. Both schools are finalists along with Mississippi State and Alabama.

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Inspired by this post from ESPNers Jason Jordan and Ronnie Flores, below are my 12 bold predictions pertaining to Kentucky basketball recruiting. By the way, Jordan and Flores predict that Kentucky targets Julius Randle and Shabazz Muhammad will pick Duke and UNLV, respectively. They also think North Carolina will cut down the nets and that Harrison Barnes will be the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Blasphemy, all of it!

Without further ado, my 12 bold predictions for the new year.

1. As Jordan and Flores posit, uncommitted 2012 forward Anthony Bennett wins MVP honors at the 2012 McDonald's All-American Game on March 28. Further, during the post-game ceremony, he announces he will sign with Kentucky, garnering both the strongest boos and strongest cheers of the day from the crowd. Bennett joins the already signed Archie Goodwin, Willie Cauley and Alex Poythress in the 2012 class.

2. A day after Kentucky cuts down the nets on April 2 (take that, North Carolina!), John Calipari receives a phone call from the Harrison twins--Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison--calling to congratulate the coach and offer a verbal commitment. They become the second duo to commit to Calipari's Kentucky program prior to their high school senior season, following the footsteps of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague.

3. After winning the tournament's MOP award (take that, Harrison Barnes!), Kidd-Gilchrist is faced with a Brandon Knight-esque decision. The heart of Kentucky's team really wants to stay, but ultimately decides that his draft stock will never get higher and leaves after an incredible year. Likewise, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Anthony Davis capitalize on their optimal draft stocks and declare as well.

4. The Wildcats do get a piece of good news: Marquis Teague goes on to have a solid season but pulls a Terrence Jones-like shocker by deciding to stay for his sophomore year. Teague teams with Ryan Harrow to form a formidable--and experienced--point guard combination in the 2012-13 season.

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